Talking Body, On The Mat
Posted by terrepruitt on September 17, 2015
Do you practice yoga? Do you have a yoga mat? Do you have to reposition (either facing the front of the class or the side) yourself on your yoga mat in order to do certain poses? Do you ever have a portion of your body not on the mat while doing some poses? I have been thinking about a round yoga mat. Have you seen them? An average rectangular yoga mat is 6 feet long and 2 feet wide. You can find longer ones and a little bit wider ones, but I don’t think the wider ones would accommodate some poses as well as a ROUND one. The first ones I had seen were Mandala’s and they are six feet in diameter. Six feet of circular mat. Not having to turn your body in order for the majority of your body to be on the mat. Not having to turn your mat so you are facing the correct direction in order to see the instructor. Not having to have some part of you off the mat. For me – I’m not tall – all poses could be done without me having to touch the ground on a round mat. I am intrigued by this circular yoga mat.
If you only do yoga in a yoga studio then the cleanliness of the floor might never be an issue. There is always going to be feet and sweat, but usually yoga studios have rules about shoes on the floor so that helps keep it a little more clean than some venues that use the floor for everything from daily meals to cycling.
I am not certain that the round mats would fit in a small room with a lot of yoga students. But if everyone was using round mats it could work, since the mats are six feet in diameter and that alone would be enough room for most people. So instead of having the normal space between the mats they could all just barely touch and that would be enough room for people to move freely through poses. So, in other words the space that is normally between mats would just be covered with a mat, but people would have somewhat, the same space. In theory. Right? Am I thinking correctly? Wouldn’t work in really crowded classes.
Well, I just Googled it again (I started this post a while ago) and I found some that are 4 feet in diameter. I don’t think that would be big enough. It is actually labeled as an “Aerobics Mat” but the website says they can be used for yoga. But I am taller than 4 feet so to me a 4 foot circular mat would be worse than a regular rectangular mat that is 6 feet long. Oooo! Perhaps they are getting more popular because when I originally typed up this post all I could find were 6 feet in diameter mats that were about $65.00, now I am finding smaller ones, 5 feet in diameter, on Amazon, that are $40.00. (Or there are a few on Amazon, there is one for $25.00, but you can see how it is not long enough.) But again is a round mat that is less than 6 feet better than a 6 foot rectangular mat?
Oh, I found a six foot one on sale for $49.95, but you have to buy at least two.
In looking at the reviews on Amazon in regards to the 5 foot one, it will not really work in a crowded yoga class, just as I thought (and you probably did, too!). With everyone else having a rectangular mat it doesn’t work for there to be one round one. But in some classes that are not crowded it would work. It would be nice to have one for outside because that is another place you might not want to be off the mat.
A round mat would be great for Nia, too, since we often move more than the space of a regular yoga or exercise mat!
I am intrigued. Any one have one? What do you think? Where did you get it?
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Liv said
I love my personal space but it never occurred to me to look for (or that they even made) a round yoga mats!!! I am so intrigued! I don’t think it would fit well in most yoga studios but I would love it. can you imagine YTT with everyone sprawled on their 6 foot circles?! I went googling after reading this and also discovered a round beach towel which is so much better/easier for sitting in groups with people on the sand! Round is in!
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terrepruitt said
I am intrigued, too! And when I first discovered them they were so expensive, now there seems to be less expensive versions out there. Which might be the way to go to try it. I don’t think it would fit well in most studios either, but then it could. The classes I attend are not that crowded and as long as not everyone had one, it would work. For crowded classes it would not, but the ones I have been in, it would work.
Ha, I saw those towels. Ha.
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